Steve McIntosh Report Blog

No more 'paper or plastic'?

by Steve McIntosh,posted Jun 4 2012 1:04AM

Those handy little plastic bags we carry home our groceries in have only been around since 1977. Most shoppers love them. They make excellent wastebasket liners, and there’s nothing better for picking up dog doo.
But plastic bags may be on their way out. They have a nasty way of washing up on beaches, and did you know petroleum is required to manufacture them? The Los Angeles City Council is considering banning them.
I carry my own cloth, reusable bags to the market, but invariably return home with three to five plastic bags. Sackers put everything in plastic bags. Most shoppers apparently ask for them … and no one’s given a lecture on conservation in this country since Jimmy Carter was in the White House.
I’ve been known to unload a plastic bag at the market and tell the clerk I don’t really care for yet another plastic bag for the pantry or the land fill.
Of course, when they’re gone, I’ll miss those plastic bags!

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Our thought for today is from Theodore Roosevelt:

“The conservation of our natural resources and their proper use constitute the fundamental problem which underlies every other problem of our national life.”